


Bleeding Out (for you)

by Rangergirl3



Series: Whumptober 2019 [25]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Injury, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23535799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Keith's focus is on completing the mission.Pidge doesn't realize he's been injured until it's almost too late.
Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Whumptober 2019 [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1506101
Comments: 26
Kudos: 183





	Bleeding Out (for you)

"This is it," Pidge says over the comms. Her words are short, almost indecipherable through the static, but Keith knows her voice well enough to be able to hear through the gaps in the transmission. "This data should tell me where my father and brother were taken."

She doesn't say anything more, but she doesn't need to. Keith knows this is the last chance she might have at locating her lost family for some time. With the Coalition getting new members every day, and more frequent coordinated attacks with the Blade, their time to follow possible leads for only two prisoners is growing more and more limited.

_Only two prisoners._

Silently, Keith shook his head, keeping watch at the doors of the data center as Pidge continues her work.

_God. He's beginning to sound more and more like Kolivan._

Even as the thought crosses his mind, alarms begin to blare. Their break-in hasn't gone unnoticed.

"How long, Pidge?"

Her reply is terse.

"Maybe another four dobashes."

Keith glances through the small window in the door, peering down the corridor. Armed sentries are making their way towards their hiding spot.

"I think I can get you two. Three, at the most."

There's a snarl of frustration over the comms, but Keith knows she's not angry with him. The situation, put simply, sucks.

* * *

"I have the final upload in progress," Pidge reports. "Give me as much time as you can."

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Keith nod.

"Copy that."

He adjusts his stance, his shield up and ready.

"Just be ready to haul ass when I give the word."

She smiles grimly. "Oh, you will eat my dust."

Keith's wry chuckle is the last thing she hears before the shooting starts.

* * *

All things considered, Keith managed to buy almost a whole three dobashes for Pidge's upload before the shit hit the proverbial fan.

* * *

"Pidge, we have to go, _now_."

Pidge keeps tight hold of the data-pad, shaking her head. "No, _no_ , I'm almost done. I can -"

The door slams open. Sentries pour in. One of them slips past Keith and aims its laser gun directly at her chest. 

As she begins to activate her shield, Pidge knows it's too late. The laser gun's already been fired.

_Speed of light._

Hah.

Guess she'll die a nerd, after all.

* * *

In the moment the sentry slips past him, Keith's heart goes cold in fear.

_Pidge. Pidge -_

There's no time to dispatch the other sentries. Not before -

_No, no, no, no!_

He turns to one side, praying to whatever deity might exist that he can -

The sentry's already gotten out of his sword's range. It's -

The laser gun's first charge is activating.

He has to move, _now_.

Keith charges towards his friend. She's only a few paces away.

* * *

An instant before the laser beam would have connected with her armor, something pushes her out of the way.

It isn't a nice push, either, like the kind you might get on a swing when you asked your big brother to help you get really, _really_ high off the ground before you jumped off shrieking 'Wheeeeee!' in mad delight and nearly flattening a nearby pedestrian as a result.

There wasn't time for that.

Instead, it's a push like you would get if a very, very fast-moving person had full-on tackled you with the sole intent of getting you _the_ _fuck out of danger._

* * *

* * *

She's sent flying backwards, still clutching the datapad in her gloved fingers. Belatedly, she sees that the upload status now reads 'Complete.'

Well, what do you know. They got the whole thing, after all.

* * *

* * *

An instant later, she hits the far wall. Their 'emergency exit' (which she had prepared by cutting two parallel incisions before beginning the download) doesn't quite give way, but it doesn't need to. She staggers to her feet, activates her bayard, and makes the final, if somewhat lopsided, incision.

The make-shift emergency door falls open, revealing a chute that leads directly back to the bay where Green is hidden.

"Keith, come on!" she shouts, turning around. "Let's g-"

The sight in front of her is -

_It's too red._

That is the first and only thought she has time to process before she takes action.

* * *

* * *

Keith knows Pidge didn't get hit.

He knows this because his abdomen is...

Well.

It feels as if it's on fire.

* * *

* * *

Pidge ignores the horrible smell of rust and copper, shuts her mind to the amount of _red_ spattered on the floor, and concentrates instead on gripping Keith by the collar of his armor and pulling him towards their improvised emergency exit.

* * *

* * *

God, god, god. 

He can't breathe.

Someone's dragging him across the floor.

He can't even scream.

* * *

* * *

With a final, mighty effort, Pidge gets them both to the top of the chute. Just for a second, she hesitates. 

_Does she go down first? Or -_

Another round of laser gun fire makes her decision for her.

_Together it is._

She hauls Keith's arm over her shoulders. He groans, but she tears her mind away from dwelling on the _why_.

"This is going to **_suck_**!" she yells in his ear, because it's important to tell the truth at moments like these, and then she jumps.

* * *

* * *

She tries to cushion his landing, but fails, obviously, because this is such a bad day already, why _not_ make it a thousand times worse?

For some bizarre reason, she almost starts laughing when she staggers up to her feet again and starts hauling him towards the Green Lion.

Not out of delight or humor, though, because there's so much _red_ and he's _not_ _moving_ and _it's her fault_ and -

Oh. So _this_ was the Joker laugh.

It was -

_Fucking **hell**._

It was _terrifying_.

It takes more concentration then she expected it to, but Pidge swallows down the high-pitched, insanely desperate and despairing sounds just long enough to shriek "Get us out of here!" to Green, and then, somehow, they're back at the Castle and -

...and Keith's still not moving.

* * *

* * *

Someone's shaking him by the shoulder, but that doesn't hurt him as much as their voice does.

"-eith? Keith, come on, come on, Keith, please don't - come on, just - wake up, wake up, wake up now, now now now _now now now now_ -"

Keith tries to answer, but only coughs up more blood.

Oh, _god_. It hurts. It hurts so much.

"Fuuuuuck, okay, ooooookay, uh - um - I - uh -"

He recognizes the voice, now.

Pidge.

It's Pidge.

He concentrates, opens an eye. She's staring wild-eyed off into the far distance, shouting something towards...

He doesn't know. The sounds have gone all...strange and...and...

He can't remember the word.

"...'dge...?"

She jumps as if she'd been shot and stares, wild-eyed, back down at him.

"Keith! Oh, shit, Keith, why did you -"

He shakes his head. Twitches it, really. He's lost a lot of blood.

" - 'd we - g-get it?"

She stares at him, confused. He concentrates, again. It's difficult to stay awake now.

"-the - d-data?"

Pidge swallows and nods. 

"Yeah - we - we d-did -"

Then she's crying into his shoulder, and Keith wonders why she's sad, because they got the data, and...and now she can...find...her...family...so...everything's fine...right...?

There's more shouting. 

Keith thinks about trying to listen to what the other voices are saying, but he's too tired.

" 'night, Pidge..." He mumbles. " 'm...gonna...rest now."

* * *

The next time he wakes up, he's stumbling out of a healing pod, and Pidge is the first one to catch him.

**Author's Note:**

> Who-hoo, another prompt up! :D :D
> 
> Comments always, always make my day, as well as giving me a boost of enthusiasm/encouragement to write! <3 <3 <3 :-)


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